Happy Mother's Day

We are parked at the Route 66 Hotel and Casino, west of Albuquerque. I thought we'd make it all the way into town, but I knew parking was very easy here. At the end of a long day, that was appealing. We were both so tired that after eating dinner, we were asleep within an hour.

The drive was uneventful. It is a long, slow climb to the continental divide on I-40, but the stretch from Kingman to Albuquerque isn't all that steep and twisty. I have a new-found respect for how tricky it is to keep the big Detroit from overheating while climbing. It requires constant tweaking and monitoring, and Sean is incredibly good at that.



Within 20 minutes of leaving our nice parking spot in Arizona, the freeway ground to a complete halt. A big rig had rolled over about 5 miles in front of us and the tow truck was just finishing flipping it back on its wheels and dragging it out of the travel lanes. We sat for a full hour, listening to the truckers whine and gripe about the backup on the CB radio. At least 60% of the traffic is tractor trailers, so there were plenty of personalities to entertain us. Someone near the front of the line gave us regular reports on the clean up. That kind of status information really helps with a long wait.

After we got rolling again and passed the pile of debris from the crash, we played cat and mouse for dozens of miles with the same group of cranky truckers, all trying to make up for lost time. At least they stopped complaining on the radio.



At a truck stop near Williams, we stopped for lunch and to use free wifi at McDonalds. Godfrey's iPad doesn't allow him to take care of certain tasks, in spite of his near constant connectivity as we are rolling. We both checked email and stretched our legs. Parking was tight at the Pilot, but I'm getting better with my slow speed maneuvering.



In general, while Sean is driving, I am quite used to being completely offline and using my on-board resources only. Rarely, I'll use his smart phone to find something. But I must admit that having Godfrey look things up while we drive down the road is both useful and entertaining. Hmm, I'm thinking this aircard thing might have a nice upside to the traveling life. I guess I can allow myself to be dragged kicking and screaming into the current decade.



At the end of the day, we wandered around the casino a bit, playing tourist. The theme here is, not surprisingly, the heyday of Route 66, so kitschy 50s memorabilia reigns. Not only is Elvis not dead, he must be making a mint on knick-knack sales.



This morning we will return to the casino for breakfast, upload this post, and get rolling. Our goal tonight is near Elk City, Oklahoma. Oh, and welcome to our new visitors here from getdpi!


All photos by Godfrey DiGiorgi